


Wish I weren't here alone

by its_stupidhours



Series: Crankiplier One-shots [4]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drowning, First Kiss, M/M, Yearning, but not, he survives dont worry, like the gay kind, merman!ethan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24297163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_stupidhours/pseuds/its_stupidhours
Summary: When Mark was younger, his family had a summer beach house in California.There he met Ethan, the strange boy with the bright blue swim trunks, with the voice of an angel, with eyes that Mark tended to get lost in.There, Mark fell in love.
Relationships: Mark Fischbach/Ethan Nestor
Series: Crankiplier One-shots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695949
Comments: 9
Kudos: 172





	Wish I weren't here alone

**Author's Note:**

> I didnt MEAN for this to be over 5,000 words, and then it DID get over 5,000 words so like,, here we are, I guess. 
> 
> Disclaimer (yall know the drill): This is not meant to disrespect to Mark, Ethan, Amy, or Mika in any way, I 100% respect the relationships they're in and I hope they stay in them and are happy together for a long, long time. I don't think that Mark and Ethan ever have been, currently are, or probably ever will be in a relationship, I just wanted to write something and have fun. If you or anyone you know is listed as a character in this fic then what!! Are you doing here?!??!??? Please turn back now how did you even get this far please leave now you weren't meant to read this. 
> 
> Title is from ["Night" by the Altogether ](https://youtu.be/akcMXGSMMRU)

When Mark was younger, his family had a summer beach house in California. 

It was a nice little place; a cottage, almost, with just enough room for Mark and his parents, maybe one other person if they tried. It was right on the beach, meaning Mark could literally just walk out the back door and be a good fifty feet from the water at high tide. 

There was a window in Mark's room that faced the water, and when he was really little he loved being able to stay up as late as he could and watch the moonlight dance across the water. Some nights he could have sworn he saw things moving out there. (He didn't want to get in the water after those nights.)

The first few years at the beach house were pretty boring. Mark didn't know anyone from the nearby town his age, so it was just him and his parents. And the ocean. Not to say that it wasn't  _ fun _ , per say, it's just that he was a kid who was a bit scared of the ocean and thought his parents were boring sometimes. As kids do. 

But the time middle school hit, Mark had taken to inviting his best friend Tyler to come with his family to the house. It was always the two of them during those summers, going on wild adventures, pretending to be pirates, generally wreaking havoc for Mark's parents and generating chaos in literally every situation they found themselves in. Again, as kids do. So for a few years, it was just them. 

Then during the summer between 6th and 7th grade, Mark met him. Ethan. 

Mark stared curiously down the beach at the boy who was kicking up sand further down it. He was wearing a pair of light blue, iridescent swim shorts that managed to reflect some sunlight into Mark's eyes, distracting him from the large hole he was trying to dig. 

But it wasn't just the swim suit that caught his attention; nobody was ever usually on this beach. From what Mark understood of it, his mom and dad owned this bit of land, so nobody else was  _ supposed  _ to be here. But Mark was curious, and besides, the boy only looked a little younger than him. Not like there was anyone here to stop him from introducing himself anyways; his parents went to town and Tyler was reading inside like the nerd he was.

"Hey!" Mark called out. The boy stopped what he was doing and looked at him. His body was tensed as if to run away, but Mark leaped forward with a grin before he could do anything. "Hi! I'm Mark!"

"Um… hi?" The boy grinned sheepishly as Mark got closer. "I'm Ethan." 

"That's a cool name!" Mark grinned again. He hadn't met someone new here like,  _ ever _ , especially not someone his age. His energy about this situation was never going to be contained. "Do you live around here? Because my mom and dad have this house over here that we go to every summer with my friend Tyler and I don't think I've ever seen you before. Have I seen you before?"

Ethan chuckled at his fast speech, slowly relaxing more and more. "Yeah, I live here. My mom just… didn't want me leaving the house on my own until now. I think I've seen you around though! Your beach house is cool."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Mark looked back over at his house, then quickly turned back to Ethan, excitement glimmering in his eyes. "Hey, I just had an idea! Come have lunch with us, you can meet Tyler and we can hang out." He paused, suddenly seeing the worry that glanced over the younger boy's face. "If that's alright with your mom, of course."

"Oh, uh, it should be fine?" His face pinched up in doubt, but he took a step forward with Mark nonetheless. "She said that I need to make friends and stuff, so…" he trailed off with a laugh. "Yeah! Sure! Why not?"

"Great! I'll go show you where the sandwich stuff is, come on."

And thus Ethan became a part of Mark and Tyler's group. Yes, he was a bit of an anomaly compared to the other two. Besides being a full two years younger than them, there was also the fact that he never took off his weird blue swim trunks (when Mark asked about them his freshman year, Ethan just shrugged and avoided eye contact while mumbling something about them being "his favorite" and that they "stretch out in the wash, man, I don't know"), and the weird curved scars on his neck that almost looked like gills if you thought about them hard enough (the one time Tyler brought it up, Ethan immediately quieted and simply said "surgery", ending the conversation they were having before it ever really began. Neither of the other boys ever asked again, despite the fact that they could both tell he was lying) and the way he didn't seen to know of any video games or television shows and the fact that Mark and Tyler would sometimes go a few days without seeing him and the way he was always  _ incredibly  _ vague about where he lived. 

But hey, he was funny, and creative, and always seemed to come up with the  _ wildest  _ ideas for their havoc-wreaking (not that his ideas ever actually  _ worked _ ), and Mark wouldn't have traded him for the world. Ethan was the one who managed to get him to swim in the ocean after years of spending summers by it, Ethan was the one who was the shittiest lier Mark had ever seen and yet was able to spin the most surprisingly believable and heartfelt story to get them all out of trouble when they got caught trying to rob the local general store, Ethan was the one who could reach into the water and pull out a fish  _ every goddamn time _ , how the  _ fuck _ did he do that,  _ yes _ Mark and Tyler lost their shit every time it happened as Ethan just laughed and put it back down. 

Ethan was the one with the voice of an angel, with a face from the gods. Ethan was the one who'd smile softly at Mark as he explained constellations as they lay on the beach, long after everyone else had gone to bed. Ethan was the one who distracted Mark with his laugh a thousand and one times. Ethan was the one who Mark confessed to Tyler about having a crush on during the ride back home from the airport the summer after their sophomore year (and then yelled offendedly at his parents when he saw them exchange money in the front seat). 

But most of all, Ethan was one of his best friends. Who cared if he was a bit of an anomaly?

The summer before his senior year, Tyler tried to convince Mark to come out on the water with him on a small rowboat. Tyler had found the old thing three years ago, and the three friends (along with Mark's dad) worked together the whole summer to fix it up. Tyler was the only one who ever really used it, though, since Ethan preferred to swim in the shallows and Mark was terrified of going out that far into the water. And he wasn't about to back down now.

"C'm _ on _ , dude, what if I fall! What if the boat capsizes?! We don't even have life jackets!" Mark looked up at the boat, which was floating in the water beside him. Sure, it was only about waist-high, but how the hell was he even supposed to get in there??

Tyler sighed, having already heard this argument a thousand times already. " _ Please _ Mark. Just this once. We're not even going to be here as long this year, pleeeeeease."

Mark supposed he was right. They were both going back home early this year to tour some colleges, so the vacation was cut short. He glared, finally submitting. " _ Fine _ . Ok. Let's go"

Tyler cheered, dipping the edge of the boat over and clambering into it. He reached down and helped Mark up. They both flopped back into the boat, making it sway dangerously. 

Mark gripped the sides of the boat in terror. "Jesus, ok, I am already starting to regret my decision! Just so you know!" 

"Just relax, dude, for fucks' sake. It's gonna be ok." Tyler rolled his eyes at Mark's dramatics, and started to row out to sea. 

After a couple of minutes, Mark anxiously peered over the edge. The shore was getting further and further away along the horizon. He gulped. "How can you be sure we don't get lost? How do you know we can get back?"

"I've got a compass with me, Mark. I have literally done this a million times, I know what I'm doing. Do you trust me?"

"... Yeah."

"Then calm down. Sit up, look around. Take in the beauty of nature!"

Mark scoffed at that, but sat up nonetheless. Water surrounded him on all sides, and in this tiny little boat in the middle of all this huge ocean, he suddenly realized how tiny he really was. 

It amazed him.

After a good while, Mark did relax, absentmindedly running his hand through the water beside him. He leaned down, watching as his hand left trails of ripples in its wake. The constant motion of the small waves against the boat were soothing. This was nice. He could get used to this.

"Mark, sit up."

Mark hummed, furrowing his brow but not bothering to move. At this point, practically half his body was out of the boat, but he didn't really notice. "Why?"

"There's a bit of a bigger wave coming, I don't want you to fa—"

The rest of Tyler's words were cut off as said bigger wave hit, rocking the boat dramatically. When the side Mark was leaning on went down, it  _ kept  _ going down, bringing Mark's body weight down with it, forcing him to tumble into the water. 

Tyler's scream was cut off once Mark was underwater, and he could only imagine the same could be said for his own scream. He was suddenly completely submerged, and his eyes shot open in a panic, revealing the miles of empty ocean around him along with the stinging pain of saltwater. He looked up and the boat— 

Oh god the boat was a lot higher up than he thought. 

Mark tried his hardest to swim up towards it (he could see Tyler's silhouette against the bright light of the day above, he could hear his frantic shouts, if only faintly) but his clothes were weighing him down too much (Tyler was getting further away,  _ the boat was getting further away _ ), there wasn't anything to push up from, and his frantic underwater scrambling did anything but bring him towards the surface ( _ where was Tyler he couldn't see him anymore he couldn't see the boat anymore where was it where  _ **_was it_ ** ). In his panic, Mark accidentally drew in a breath, but of course, instead of air, he only got water, and as soon as he realized what he had done, he only managed to draw in more.  _ God _ , it hurt like hell, the burning in his lungs drowning out everything else. The world was getting fuzzy, then dark, and he was too tired to even try to keep trying to swim back up…

Was he going to die here?

Oh fuck, he was going to die here, wasn't he?

Hanging there, limp, suspended in the water, Mark vaguely felt a presence hurriedly swim up beside him. As if in a dream, he felt the presence grab his wrist and pat his face lightly. He was far too far gone to respond, only sinking deeper. 

Then he felt a pair of lips on his, and energy shot through his body as his lungs filled with air again. His eyes shot open as the presence pulled away, to reveal…

Ethan?

But not Ethan, at the same time. His skin had a faint bluish tint to it, and his eyes seemed to be glowing. Well, maybe not  _ glowing _ , but definitely sharper. Not human. The scars on his neck were open, moving up and down like flaps, like… gills. And as Mark's gaze moved down, he was met with the most surprising revelation of all: Ethan's iconic suim trunks (and, along with those, his  _ fucking legs) _ were replaced with a bright blue tail. It was surprisingly long, tapering out into flowy fins at the end and along the sides. Its scales shone sunlight directly into Mark's eyes, reminding him of the day they met, when Ethan was just a stranger playing in the sand. Whatever was happening right now felt surprisingly similar to that moment. 

Mark's head shot up, gazing at the younger boy in confusion. And maybe a bit of wonder, too. "What the fu-" He was cut off by Ethan slapping his hand over his mouth, even though the true meaning of the words was muddled through the water. 

"I just gave you some breath, and while I'm 100% willing to give you more, I doubt you'd appreciate it." His voice was surprisingly clear compared to Mark's; the older boy could understand him completely. 

Ethan grabbed his wrist and started swimming, quickly making it to a large flat rock hidden about an inch beneath the water. He tossed Mark up unto it, clambering up after him as well as he could without legs. Mark watched as he awkwardly adjusted his tail then turned and smiled sheepishly. 

"Are you ok?"

"Am I— You—  _ What _ —" Mark stammered, continuing to gawk at Ethan's tail. It wasn't as impressive out of water, but damn if it still wasn't the most magnificent thing he'd ever seen. "You're a mermaid. Or, uh, merman. I don't know. What the fuck is going on?"

"You almost  _ drowned _ , Mark, answer my question." 

Mark finally looked up, right into the concerned gaze of his friend. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm pretty sure." He glanced down at himself. "Unless I'm dead, I feel like that's a definite possibility."

Ethan laughed, glad that Mark was ok. "No, you're not dead, trust me." 

"That's good to hear. I'd hate to miss the Senior Experience, you know." 

Ethan laughed. "Of course you would." There was silence between them for a moment, the only sound being the lapping of the waves around them before Ethan spoke again. 

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"It's just, you're not supposed to… you're my one of my best friends, dude, I don't— I didn't— I messed everything up. I'm sorry." He slipped off the rock, floating in the open water with his elbows resting against the edge. "I'll find a way to get Tyler to row over here, don't worry." He turned to swim away, but Mark grabbed his wrist before he could move.

"Eth, wait."

"Yeah?"

Mark pursed his lips. Thousands of questions were on his mind, but there was one that was pressing on him a bit harder than the others. 

"Why'd you kiss me?" 

"I, uh… it was all I could do, I'm so sorry, I panicked, you were fucking  _ drowning  _ and I didnt know what to do but I knew that when a mermaid kisses a human it lets them breathe underwater for just a second and I, I just— I panicked. I'm so,  _ so _ sorry—"

"Don't apologize."

"What?" Ethan looked up at Mark through his rambling, blinking when he saw how close he was to his face. 

"Don't apologize, dude. I didn't mind. I don't… I  _ still _ dont mind, I…" Mark coughed awkwardly, suddenly realizing just how tense the air between them was. "Can I kiss you again?"

Ethan blinked. "Wha— you sure?"

"I asked."

Ethan gave a small nod and a nervous chuckle, then he lifted himself back up onto the rock and quickly closed the space between them once more. 

The kiss was longer this time, deeper, and in every second of it made Mark feel more invigorated than the last. He moved to deepen it further, but Ethan pulled away, slipping back off the rock. 

"I should go now. You can't exactly sit here forever, can you?" Ethan chuckled. "Bye, Mark."

Mark touched his lips, still feeling the energy that was surging through him only seconds before as he watched the merman swim away. "Bye." But he was too far away to hear.

Mark didn't see Ethan again after that. 

He walked out to the beach the next day, despite Tyler's fretting, despite his own newfound fears, and waited. Waited for Ethan to return, waited for something,  _ anything _ to happen. 

But Ethan never came. 

Mark waited on the beach every day until he was forced to leave, and Ethan never came back. 

The next few years were strange, to say the least. 

The first one was stilted. He and Tyler were preparing to go to different schools for the first time in twelve years, and the signs of them starting to drift apart were painfully obvious as they shared a room for a whole summer. And of course, Ethan wasn't there. Mark knew that he would have made everything seem ok. He would have made everything  _ be _ ok.

Mark spent most of that summer with his parents, for once. It was…  _ alright _ . Having a summer to relax and unwind instead of getting up to his usual hijinks felt good, especially after the chaos that was his last year of high school. But that didn't mean he didn't miss the hijinks.

The morning before he was supposed to go back home, Mark went to the window that faced the sea before Tyler could wake up, just like he did every day. Looking at it from this angle was good; he had a clear view of the beach and anyone who might be on it while still being a safe distance away from the water itself. Before he could even get a good look outside, though, something caught his eye. 

There was a conch shell sitting on the windowsill. Mark, confused, opened the window and took it. Turning it over in his hands, he saw a small heart carved into the inside lip. 

There was only one person who could have left it. 

The second year, Mark didn't go back. 

He would have liked to say he was too busy. He would have liked to say that college was kicking his ass, so he was going to study for next year. He would have liked to say that he wanted to spend time with his college friends that summer. Because, yes, they were true, but they weren't the real reason he wasn't going. He was too scared to admit that. 

He let his parents have their summer alone. He was alright with that. 

The third year, his dad died. 

Mark's mom convinced him to go back for the summer, and for two and a half months, it was just the two of them. The air in the beach house was somber, a sharp contrast to the joy that used to radiate throughout the entire place just a few years before. 

Mark liked it, though. It gave him some time to reflect, time to realize that hey, he really was becoming an adult now. And a part of that process was letting go of people you lost.

And yet, now that he was here, Mark couldn't help but think of Ethan. Despite the years that had passed, despite the twinge of resentment that came with thinking of the way he left, Mark couldn't  _ stop _ thinking about him. He just… he missed him.

_ God _ , he missed him. So damn much.

The day before Mark and his mom were set to leave, the young man walked to the town's general store. As he stepped over the threshold, he nodded at the owner, who scowled at him. Mark just chuckled, shaking his head as he continued through the store. Apparently attempted robbery isn't something easily forgotten. Who would have guessed?

He made his way over to the back corner, where a wide variety of small collectable carved figures stood. They were cheap little things, probably made en masse in a factory somewhere, but that didn't stop Ethan from marvelling over the things, Mark remembered. He would come here every chance he could, pick one up, and just stare at it for  _ hours _ at a time. If Ethan wasn't at the beach or with Mark and Tyler, he was in here, looking at the figurines. Mark was almost surprised to see that he wasn't here today.

Mark grabbed a handful of them and made his way over to the counter. He was tempted to just slip them in his pocket and leave (maybe he'd actually get away with shoplifting this time), but he was determined to try and get on the owner's good side. Besides, she was watching him like a hawk; there was no way he'd make it out without question.

Back at the beach house, Mark went up to his window and opened it. Breathed the sea air in deeply before looking out one last time to see if Ethan was there. Just in case. (He wasn't.) Mark sighed, carefully putting the figurines on the windowsill and closing the window. 

The next morning, they were gone. 

The years after that went pretty smoothly. Mark was going down to the beach house alone now, his mom having said that she was "sick of the ocean" and "isn't this what you've always wanted, Mark? To go crazy on the beach with no adult supervision?"

Tyler came sometimes, too. He would always come late and leave early, but they both appreciated the time they were spending together again. They would stay up late, talking about what school was like and reminiscing summers past. Mainly talking about Ethan, though. 

"What even happened to him?" Tyker asked one night. "He just fucking… disappeared off the face of the planet one day. Who does that?  _ How _ did he do that?"

"I wish I knew, Ty, I really fucking do." Mark was, of course, terrified to tell Tyler the truth: that he  _ did _ know the answers to his questions. Not that Tyler would believe him anyways. 

Five years after Ethan left, Mark found himself alone at the beach house once more. He was early, this time. He dropped out of college just a couple months before his final exams, just a couple months before he would have graduated, and he still wasn't sure if he regretted it or not. He always thought that the sea helped him think, despite his remaining fears of the ocean. So he had packed up his things and drove himself down to California without telling a soul. Disappearing off the face of the planet, basically. 

Just like Ethan had done. He chuckled at the thought. 

Ethan still left him gifts, the time between them getting smaller and smaller every time. By the time Mark had left last year, they were at his windowsill almost every other day. The gifts were a variety of things, from shells to feathers to cool rocks to flowers drenched in seawater. And no matter how hard Mark tried, he never managed to catch Ethan in the act. 

It was the most infuriating thing Mark had ever dealt with. 

He just wanted to see his friend again, dammit! He wanted to hear his voice again and see his smile again and witness the wonder in his eyes when he looked at the stars again and feel his soft lips melt under his own again and just… know him again. He wanted Ethan back again. Mermaid or not. It had been too long.

He was tired of waiting for Ethan to come to him. So Mark did the only thing left to do: he was going to go to Ethan. 

The sea was stormier than it had ever been before; waves were crashing all along the shoreline and the thunderous sound of rain hitting the water almost drowned out the thunderous sound of the thunder itself. The boat was getting rusty and soggy from years of disuse, since neither Mark nor Tyler had touched the thing since Mark had almost drowned. As Mark dragged the boat down into the water and jumped in it, he was violently reminded of that fateful day when he almost drowned the first time. Of how small he felt in the tiny boat in the middle of a vast nothingness. The feeling was amplified now, and it terrified him. 

He rowed out to sea, suddenly fully aware of how idiotic this idea really was. Was Ethan even going to save him? What if he wasn't in the area when Mark fell in? What if Mark died? 

Oh fuck, what if he died?

Mark couldn't see the shore anymore, and he suddenly realized that he didn't bring a compass with him to find his way back. The sun was hidden behind a thick curtain of clouds, and the sea was tossing him around so much that Mark truly didn't know where he was anymore. Rain and seawater were sloshing into the boat faster that he could process. There was no going back now. 

He sat there for a second, in the chaos of the storm, taking it all in. Looking over the edge of the boat, he could see the waves that were violently shaking him. If he leaned over just a little bit more, he would fall in. He leaned.

A wave crashed against the edge of the boat, roughly throwing him into the water. 

The second Mark was underwater, everything went silent. He opened his eyes in surprise; the lack of the storm was unnerving. On top of that, everything was dark. Looking up, Mark could faintly see the rain as it poured down, but everywhere else was a void. There was no sunlight to break through it, not this time. 

Mark panicked, thrashing around in the water. He knew it was a waste of time, that it would just use up the rest of his energy, but fear had finally gripped his heart and it was not letting go. The boat was already far above him, too far above to reach. He could feel himself going limp as he accidentally sucked in a breath of water, and watched with fading vision as the boat above him got further and further away. Before long, he couldn't see it anymore. Or maybe he couldn't see  _ anything _ anymore. It was all so  _ dark… _

  
  


Mark woke up with a gasp. He could feel his heart nearly beating out of his chest, he could hear the roaring of the storm around him, he could still taste the saltwater on his tongue. He sat up and looked over, and he could see Ethan. 

Ethan, in human form, with his closed gills gracing his neck, with his swim trunks still on his legs, with his hair soaked from the ocean and the rain, plastered to his forehead. Ethan, with a terrified yet angry look on his face. 

"What the  _ fuck _ was that?!" He yelled, already surging forward to look Mark over. "You nearly drowned, dude, what the  _ fuck _ . You scared the shit out of me!"

Mark smiled, eyes grazing over the other man. He was a lot more muscular now, Mark noted, with toned arms and body that filled him out nicely. He was bigger, and his voice was the slightest bit deeper, and by god he was the most gorgeous man Mark had ever seen. "Ethan," he gasped.

Ethan paused his frantic worrying, finally looking Mark in the eyes. "What?"

Mark grinned wider. He had forgotten how beautiful Ethan's eyes were. "I missed you."

Ethan raised his eyebrow. "Is that what this is about? You almost killed yourself because you  _ missed me?" _

"Yes, actually. Sometimes gifts left on a windowsill don't cut it."

Ethan sighed, then sat up next to Mark. They were on the rock again, the one Ethan had left the young man on the last time, and the storm raged on around them. But for just a second, Mark felt like it was calm. He felt like it would be ok. And now that he was with Ethan, he knew that it would be. 

"I missed you too," Ethan finally said.

"Then why did you leave?"

"Because, well… You weren't supposed to see me. If you had been anyone else, if  _ I _ had been anyone else, there would have been a way to make you forget that I was a mermaid. But you were my best friend, and if I did that then you would have forgotten  _ everything _ , and I just—"

"You couldn't do that?"

"Yeah." Ethan leaned onto Mark. "So I left. Or, well, I didn't  _ leave _ , I just didn't go back. I'm sorry."

Mark hummed. "Don't apologize. Just— please don't leave again. Can't we go back to the way it was?"

Ethan laughed. "I  _ really _ doubt that's possible. You don't just un-learn the fact that your friend isn't human."

"We can make something new then. I'm, uh, I'm done with college, I can move here and I can see you again and you can see me again and we can be happy. Or something like that."

"Or something like that." Ethan smiled, sitting up so he could look Mark in the eyes again. He wiped Mark's wet hair out of his eyes, keeping his hand there once he was done. "I thought you hated the ocean, though?"

"Maybe so, but I love you."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I do. I think I always have." Mark leaned in, slowly closing the distance between them before Ethan grabbed his face and rushed forward, bringing their lips together.

Mark grinned into the kiss, immediately tilting his head and making it deeper. He could faintly hear the sound of the rain as it continued around them, but he couldn't care less. He could feel energy coursing through him, like electricity pouring in through his mouth and his hair and everywhere else Ethan was touching him. For a second, he almost thought that he  _ had _ died, because surely this was heaven. 

After a couple minutes, Mark felt Ethan shifting under and hands, and he pulled away with a frown. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Ethan looked down. "I just, uh…" Mark followed his gaze down to the younger man's legs, which were… changing. Mark gazed in wonder as they morphed together and his swimsuit grew, molding down into his legs and forming scales. Before long, Ethan's legs were gone, replaced with a long tail. Mark looked back up, only to see that his gills were open again and his eyes were no longer human. There were more scales littering the rest of his body than last time, too; some were even on his face and along his neck. Ethan grinned, leaning forward to kiss a shocked Mark one last time before he slipped into the water. 

He reached out a hand, and Mark took it. Then, Ethan pulled, dragging Mark down into the water. Mark screamed, but when he relaxed, he realized that he wasn't underwater. Instead, Ethan's strong arms were around him, and by his legs, he could feel that Ethan's tail was churning the water around them as he kept them afloat. 

Mark chuckled. "Wow, I can't believe you're just gonna one-up me like that."

"What do you mean?" said Ethan with feigned innocence. "I'm just swimming here."

"Oh, like you aren't aware of how strong you are."

"I really have no idea what you're talking about!" Ethan laughed, causing Mark to do the same. Their voices mingled together, drowning out the rain for just a moment. When he calmed down, Ethan looked at Mark again before kissing his cheek lightly. "C'mon, let's get you to shore."

**Author's Note:**

> If there's any spelling mistakes (there probably are, ngl, I wrote this on my phone and I havent proofread it) plz tell me so I can fix it! If you liked this, leave a kudos and comment! Even tho I rarely reply, I do read them all, and they always make my day!


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